FROM JAPAN vs Buyee: shipping to Germany

Local-currency figures are approximate, converted at the European Central Bank reference rate of 2026-10-01 (1 € = ¥178.5). Your card or the proxy will use its own rate on the day.

Totals include the proxy's service fee, packing, domestic shipping inside Japan, international postage, any deposit or payment fee, and import tax. Where a service collects tax up front it appears in the “pay the proxy” column instead of “pay on delivery”. The tax is the same either way.

Line by line

Every line lands on the same figure for these two on this order, so the totals are level. What separates them is what they include and how they treat other orders, both covered below.

Does it hold for your order?

One example order proves little, so we priced the same pair on 24 orders: four parcel weights, three item prices, and one item against three separate items, all from Mercari Japan to Germany.

• FROM JAPAN cheaper
• Buyee cheaper
• Darker means a bigger gap. Each cell is the difference in the final total.

None of the three things we varied moves the gap by more than a few tens of yen. The difference between these two comes from a fixed charge, so the table above is a fair guide whatever you buy.

Depending on where you buy

Where you buy changes the answer: Yahoo! Auctions, Mercari Japan, Rakuten Rakuma, Amazon.co.jp, Rakuten Ichiba, ZenMarket recommended stores and Other Japanese shops are ties. FROM JAPAN's total is the same whatever the marketplace, while Buyee's total is the same whatever the marketplace. All rows are the same ¥10,000, 1 kg order.

What each will ship to Germany

They disagree on 4 categories: snacks and food (FROM JAPAN: with conditions, Buyee: not stated); adult doujinshi (FROM JAPAN: refused, Buyee: with conditions); skincare and cosmetics (FROM JAPAN: with conditions, Buyee: not stated); and medicine (FROM JAPAN: with conditions, Buyee: not stated). If your item falls into one of those, that matters more than the price gap above. Both refuse model paint and thinner; spray cans and topcoat; items with lithium batteries; airsoft and model guns; lighters; replica swords and knives; perfume; and plants and seeds on this route. Japan Post itself restricts items with lithium batteries on parcels to Germany, so switching service does not get around it.

Highlighted rows are where the two differ. "Not stated" means the company publishes no rule, so the decision is made at the warehouse after you have paid. Each company's own wording is quoted on the what you cannot ship page.

When you pay the import tax

FROM JAPAN does not collect it up front on EMS parcels to Germany, so it is paid to the courier when the parcel lands. Buyee does not collect it up front on EMS parcels to Germany, so it is paid to the courier when the parcel lands. The amount of import VAT is set by Germany, not by either company, so it is the same whichever you use. Where it is paid on arrival, the courier usually adds its own customs handling charge on top, which neither company publishes and which is not in the totals here.

Storage, packing and payment terms

FROM JAPAN holds purchases free for longer (60 days against 30). That window is what lets you collect several purchases over a few weeks and send them in one box, which usually saves more in postage than the difference in service fees.

What each includes for the money

FROM JAPAN: 60 days of free storage, consolidation of several purchases into one parcel, a guarantee on the domestic purchase, an inspection of the item on arrival, insurance on the international leg. Buyee: no extras bundled at this plan level (Light (no cover)). A cheaper total with no inspection and no insurance is not the same product as a dearer one that includes both. On a second-hand auction item, where the seller's description is the only thing you have to go on, that difference is worth more than the gap above.